Smashwords had their end of year sale, so I'm back on my indie ebook bullshit.
The first one I wanted to talk about is Lucas by M.J. James, the first book in the Ember Town series. It's available for free right now so I snatched it up.
The book is named after the main character, a middle aged trans man who has moved to a random small town. After coming out as trans, his life fell apart. He's working two jobs and trying to save every penny in order to get top surgery, but he's barely making it. Little does he know that the small Colorado town he has moved to isn't as unremarkable as he thinks. It's actually filled with supernatural creatures and they don't all care about his well-being.
One night after work, Lucas is bit by a vampire. Neither he or the vampire that bit him know that he has a rare genetic mutation that means he will change into a vampire himself after only one bite. Now he's trapped in time, his body forever stuck mid-transition.
The author has a note at the beginning of this book that it was written at a time when they themselves were struggling to come to terms with not being able to get top surgery and it really comes through in the book. Lucas' feelings come through so strong and it's hard not to empathize with him. He's grieving the loss of the person he wanted to become, wrestling with a dream that's dying, and trying to accept a whole new future that he never would have chose for himself. I really loved him and was rooting for him so much throughout this book.
This book does have some drawbacks, though. It has a romance that feels shoe horned in. As much as I enjoy gay romances, the romance felt really out of place to me. It didn't fit the tone or logic of any of the rest of the book. The dialogue also feels really stiff and unnatural. For some reason, only Lucas uses contractions when he speaks? And people have a habit of walking up and just sort of saying the exact perfect and most politically correct thing on the first try.
I don't think I'm going to read the rest of the series. I really liked Lucas as a protagonist and it doesn't look like he's the main character of the other books. But, I think if you found the premise interesting, it's definitely worth a look.